The preparation of fish fillet is a time consuming and cumbersome process. Especially, removing bones from the meat can be problematic, because these bones are attached to the meat. Some fishes, such as white fishes have rather thin bones that break easily during the preparation process. This is especially true for pin bones extending from the bigger bones that run along the length of the fish.
Different apparatus have been developed for the removal of bones from meat. Usually, a fish is cleaned such that a fish body is obtained comprising half the side of a fish with bones still attached to the meat. This fish body is then processed in a fish bone removal apparatus.
Although known apparatus can be used for removal of bones and pin bones from a fish body, these apparatus are not efficient for use in removal of all pin bones, especially not breakable pin bones, such as pin bones from white fish. Therefore, there is a need for an apparatus that can be used for preparation of fish fillet, whereby all or substantially all the bones, including pin bones, are removed from a fish body. There is a need for reduction of labor cost and time related to the preparation of fish filet, especially for large scale production of fish filet.
WO9941991 discloses a fish bone removal apparatus comprising a picking member having a stack of disc shaped elements that rotate around a rotational axis. A wedge-shaped gap is present on the periphery of the elements between two adjacent elements. A fish body is transported over a belt to the elements of the apparatus. Upon contact of the fish body with the element, the fish bone becomes wedged in the gap and is removed or plucked from the meat during continuous movement of the element upwards relative to the transporting belt. A problem with this apparatus is that it is difficult for the fish bones to get caught by the wedge shaped gap. Another problem with this apparatus is that it is difficult to remove the fish bones from the apparatus when it has been caught by the apparatus. To remove the fish bones from the apparatus, the apparatus, for example, has to be sprayed with water at high pressure. The removal of fish bones causes stop in the production and accordingly loss of money. Another disadvantage with the prior art fish bone removal apparatus is that the peripheries of the discs may cause damages on the fish files, thereby causing wastage of the fish meat.